St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-03-15
After the Minneapolis Real Estate Men
With an Exceedingly Sharp and
Oaustic Stick.
W. s. King and ]. B. Bassett Pay Their
Respects to the Various People
Who Deal in Dirt.
Judge Fish and Others Defend the
Real Estate Exchange
Vigorously.
Conservative Councils. Set Aside by
the City's Conservators--A
Racy Session,

! OF trade meeting yesterday. The Judges
absence has had a depressing effect upon
the board, and while Vice President
| Wyman presided with all due dignity and
grace, he seemed to lack the magnetism
which draws forth the eloquence of the
distinguished orators who compose that
! body. AT any rate, there has been a very
quiet series of sessions during the absence
of Mr.. Atwater, and his return to tine
chair. and resolution by Judge Bassett,
made the meeting OF yesterday a full
| attonelnent for the dreary sessions Of the
! few weeks past.
| Gov. Pillsbury was authorized to sign a
call Tor convention TO consider the Sault
Ste. Marie canal and its needs, on behalf of
the board This done. Judge Bassett arose
with two pieces OF paper in his hand. He
read from one, newspaper clipping, and
made it the preteXt for the other, which was.
of course, a resolution. The clipping was
charge by real estate dealer that the
board of trade was direlect in its duty re-
! garding the encouragement of new manu-
featuring concerns to locate in MINNEAPOLIS.
and the resolution read as follows:
Resolved. That ia the opinion Of this board
OF trade, the practice now so prevalent in this
city of specuating in real estate and thereby
nominally increasing its value largely be, ond
/ its real and intrinsic worth, is opposed 70 the
substantial growth and prosperity of the city
Mr.. Bassett. thus armed. proceeded tc
hurl hot shot against the land spectators
in general and the real estate agents in par
| ticular. He declared that they had never
done anything to aid the material prosperity
of the city, but on the contrary had raised
the prices of lots to an outrageous figure
which prevented actual home builders from
| buying and rendered all efforts of the
board OF trade toward bringing man.
ufacturers TO the city Intellectual. be-
cause such concerns could not secure
! land III any available location without nav.
ing two or three times what such land Is
really worth. He waxed eloquent. and in
thunder tones charged that the real estate
dealers mot only doomed this city and got
1t out OF sight and hearing but they have
swoOped down like
FLOCK OF GRASSHOPPERS ON DTIUTHr'
DEPRESSING somewhat from the subject i'm
hand, the gentleman said that if the men
had used their influence to appropriate
81, 500, 600 for the building of extensive iron
works. which could use up the immense de-
posts OF ore now beiiig worked in this state
and Wisconsin, instead Of putting it into a
court house tor the benefit of their real es-
tate schemes. it would have been money in
their pockets and mean al addition of
100, 600 to the city's population in a verr
few years. The judge earnestly insisted
that unless a setback TO the citys pros
perity is desired, manufacturers must be
/ made to come here If they will not
| come without inducements, they must
be offered incentives. High-prlced
real estate has caused many valuable manu-
factories, which would otherwise have been
! established here, to locate elsewhere. Then
|
near an approach to that kind as the gen
tleman can master-he turned his attention
to the real estate dealers again and gave
them resounding whacks, in which labor he
| was encouraged and abetted by Robert
Hale, Col. King and others.
j. I. Wyman expressed himself as being
in hearty accord with the spirit OF the reso-
lntion but doubted the eXpediency of pass
ing it, because its publication might have a
bad effect on the city's welfare and keep
prospective residents away. He defended
the board of trade from the attacks of the
real estate man in the newspaper. He said
no manufacturing concern could be induced
to come here at the present real estate
prices which were largely speculative
At this juncture Col. King took hand.
He was very well, indeed. thank you. and
proceeded to do up the real estate men
| without gloves. The colonel INDUCED in
many of the unique epithets for which he
has established so envIable a reputation
He declared that more diSreputable state
ment than the one read by Judge BaSSett
| from Saturdays Journal, never appeared
in the newspapers of the city. He referred
to the real estate men as irresponsible
| sidewalk wind instruments, under the
badge of real estate agents. ''Of the 400
real estate agents in town, you can count
on your fingers those who have ever given
as much as SIS IN aid of any manufacturing
enterprise" According to the colonel the
real estate agents of the city are worth
less leeches. with limited brains and plenty
of independence and CAB
Secretary Robert Hale was charmed by
You'd expression by this mastery arraign-
ment of the wicked real estate men.
Judge Fish had listened quietly 10 the
Orations of Mr.. BaSSett and Mr.. King. and
when he arose he remarked that the COM
mentary which the resolution had called
forth would doubtless be of more interest
to the public than the resolution itself.
The judge did not approve the resolutions,
and offered in their stead
THE FOLLOWING SUBSTITUTE:
Resolved. That committee OF FIVE be ap-
pointed by the chair to confer with like
committee from the Real Estate exchange
with Il view 10 promoting the establishment
Of additional manufacturers in the city.
The judge earnestly protested against
Mr.. BaSsetts resolution, saving that its
passage would make this board the laugh
ing stock of the city. All business has
more or less of speculation in it, and the
real estate men have just as much right TO
combine for their own interest as have the
| lumbermen. This was thrust at BaSSett.
who claimed that his craft met only to pre-
vent selling at loss through competition
but his reply was cleverly turned to adj
vantage by the Judge.
Capt. Whitney referred to two very
prominent citizens leaders in the Real Es-
| tate exchange. who had done as much for
the manufacturing interests of the city as
any member of the board of trade and the
passage of the resolution would be direct
insult to them. He said that real estate
dealing was an honorable and legitimate
| business.
Capt Merriman made vigorous attack
upon what he called the real estate gam
blers, placing the average real estate dealer
i'll the same boat with dealers in options and
patrons of the gambling dives of the city.
Gov. Pillsbury, in explaining his vote on
! the substitute said that no one class of citi-
Zens i'm Minneapolis had done so much to
| injure the true interests of this CITY as the
real estate dealers
| j. A. W0lverton informed the board that
most of the officers and several of the prom
| nent directors OF the exchange were also
members of the board of trade He thought
the substitute eminently proper and urged
its adoption.
Mr.. White was opposed to the whole
business as being founded upon newspa-
der eritique, which The board, to maintain